A Facebook fan page for business is similar to a regular Facebook page except that it more focused on businesses.  So where to begin?  When you first enroll in Facebook you set up your main personal page.  Once this is complete you then have the option to create a fan page. 

Next decide what you want your page to accomplish.  Do you want to promote your company or its brands or a combination of both?  How will you attract users to your page?  What kind of information do you intend to post on the site?

The preplanning phase is a very important one.  So take your time and try to decide what you want to do with the site.  At this point, you can begin to establish the site and then post information to it. 

You can go to www.facebook.com/pages to start, use the option on the right and make sure to use the dropdowns to let people know what type of business you are running. 

A very important aspect of business building through the creation of a Facebook fan page is to get interested and relevant users to this page.  You want people to visit your site and ultimately register there. 

So how will you be able to do so?  There are many different ways to attract users to your site.  One of the most effective and cheapest ways to do so is through viral marketing.  If you already have an established audience of friends and associates you can announce your fan page and encourage members to visit it. 

Another very important aspect is to encourage your contacts to tell their contacts about your site.  This is the viral aspect of marketing.  However once you begin to get users to your site, it is very important to provide them with a reason to visit the site and recommend it to others. 

Therefore relevant and interesting content is very important.  You can post articles which deal with your industry or are associated with some of the products and services you may offer. 

Another thing which many businesses do is to announce special promotions or sales on their sites.  And a great way to attract new users and build your base is to run contests on your site.  In this way many people will be enticed to visit the site.

Normally to participate in a contest the user would have to enroll on your site.  Hopefully they will return to take advantage of other promotions or receive additional information you may post on the site. 

But once they are enrolled you have the option to reach out to them separately to promote different things related to your business.  Just remember that is is vitally important to keep your fan page fresh and interesting.  

You will want to post messages, videos, pictures and other relevant information on a regular basis.  Otherwise users will have no reason to return to your site.  You want them to keep coming back to your site and certainly want them to recommend your site to other users.  

It does take effort but the rewards can be significant.  An especially important fact is that in general, other than your time the cost to establish a presence on Facebook and build business through your fan page is zero. 

This certainly makes the use of a Facebook fan page a very desirable and effective way to build your business on a local or worldwide basis.  There are many options when it comes to a good fan page but you can find a great deal of helpful resources to assist you in initially creating and then maintaining it.  Many talented designers are available to work with you on an outsourced basis. 

So even if you are not entirely doing this on your own, you can easily find great resources to assist in your business building activities through the creation and promotion of your Facebook fan page. 

A great application to enhance your Facebook Fan page or Facebook Business page is  www.facebizpro.com/getconnected/main.aspx This application allows you to build a custom business advertising module right on a welcome tab on your Facebook Fan page or Facebook Business page. You can find an example here: www.facebizpro.com/getconnected/main.aspx

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